Businesswiz
10-16-06, 08:27 PM
This is an article I wrote for my school's newspaper. Tell me what you guys think!
Green Outlook for Greens
In hindsight, David Suzuki a famous Geneticist and Environmental activist correctly phrased the aurora surrounding Organic farming, “Many organic practices simply make sense, regardless of what overall agricultural system is used. Far from being a quaint throwback to an earlier time, organic agriculture is proving to be a serious contender in modern farming and a more environmentally sustainable system over the long term.” I'm sure he emphatically pronounced long term. This is what all of must think about when investing or doing anything worthwhile for that matter, like studying.
Organic products as a by-product of farming are the “purged” versions of the conventional foods the majority of us eat. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) defines it as, “food produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.” In addition, antibiotic/hormone pumped animals are banned. Therefore the ecological benefit is surely there.
With the manifestation of a myriad of diseases and abnormalities it is no wonder the informed consumer is shoving the “processed foods” aside and substituting it with the purity of Organic produce. Statistics show that the Organics business is organically growing, that is until it dies and is replaced by a superior alternative. The Organic Foods industry has been growing annually at close to 20 percent since 1999, while the conventional foods have lagged behind at 1-2 percent but still hold a larger share of the food industry as a whole. When you read something like this in the Wall Street Journal, "Organics make up only about 2.5% of the nation's food market, but demand is rising so quickly that many of the country's estimated 10,000 organic farms say they are having a hard time keeping up." you should "invest, then investigate". This is exactly what savvy investors are doing at a gradual pace.
Speculators are going even deeper and looking at the companies to short or put, or the companies they will bet on to lose out, unless of course they see the light. These companies as you already might have guessed are the (fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides) producers. The following list is a general list of the top manufacturers of these products: Syngenta (SYT), Bayer (BAY), Dupont (DD), Dow AgroSciences (DOW), BASF (BF), and Agrium (AGU). If everything were to be "done according to Hoyle" none of the pollutant divisions of these companies or the companies would exist by tomorrow, but these companies serve as a ligament of the spine erecting the U.S. economy, and regulators wouldn't see it a good thing to prosecute these behemoths especially in these unstable economic times where financial analysts land themselves in the Cooko's Nest. The government might start offering sanctions to the organic farmers because the operating costs for farmers and companies are as much as 50% more, with added costs stemming from transporting, natural fertilizers, and infected crops.
In 2001 the University Of Rochchester School Of Medicine put out a shocking study which resulted in the discovery "of the effects of a mixture of two very common agrichemicals, the herbicide Paraquat and the fungicide Maneb. Each is used by farmers on millions of acres in the United States alone: Maneb is applied widely on such crops as potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce and corn, and paraquat is used on corn, soybeans, cotton, fruit, and a variety of other products. In the experiment, mice exposed to either one had little or no brain damage, but mice exposed to both share a significant trait with people in the very early stages of the disease: Though they appear healthy, key brain cells known as dopamine neurons are dying. The mice exposed to the mixture carried nearly all of the molecular hallmarks of Parkinson's disease as seen in humans." With studies like these coming out weekly it doesn't surprise me to learn that the population is rethinking their eating habits. Documentaries like Fast Food America lift eyebrows too. The Companies which lurked in the dark while consumers were at McDonalds (MCD) [Hasn't adopted organics with open arms but will if it wants to survive] are now beaming with joy. Organic companies include: Dean Foods (DF), Whole Foods Market (WFMI) [Has 5 stores in the tri-state area serving mostly upper class neighborhoods], Wal-Mart (WMT) [Wal-Mart in February began stuffing the shelves of 10% of its stores with organic products to serve the higher income customers], Hain Celestial Group (HAIN)[large market cap], Wild Oats (OATS) [Beware of the super high multiple. This too has a large market cap]. All have seen an upward trajectory in price.
Organic foods are green but require a lot of it too. A store I shop at called Forces of Nature, which has just boomed lately, must have its own bank by now (incidentally its right next door to a Citibank). With increasing demand and volume, and with more R&D (for production and transportation methods mainly), the resultant lower costs will trickle down to the consumer. In the meantime you could always wait for a Wal-Mart to open up in your area.
I tried editing the format, but it didn't work out :bugeye:
Green Outlook for Greens
In hindsight, David Suzuki a famous Geneticist and Environmental activist correctly phrased the aurora surrounding Organic farming, “Many organic practices simply make sense, regardless of what overall agricultural system is used. Far from being a quaint throwback to an earlier time, organic agriculture is proving to be a serious contender in modern farming and a more environmentally sustainable system over the long term.” I'm sure he emphatically pronounced long term. This is what all of must think about when investing or doing anything worthwhile for that matter, like studying.
Organic products as a by-product of farming are the “purged” versions of the conventional foods the majority of us eat. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) defines it as, “food produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.” In addition, antibiotic/hormone pumped animals are banned. Therefore the ecological benefit is surely there.
With the manifestation of a myriad of diseases and abnormalities it is no wonder the informed consumer is shoving the “processed foods” aside and substituting it with the purity of Organic produce. Statistics show that the Organics business is organically growing, that is until it dies and is replaced by a superior alternative. The Organic Foods industry has been growing annually at close to 20 percent since 1999, while the conventional foods have lagged behind at 1-2 percent but still hold a larger share of the food industry as a whole. When you read something like this in the Wall Street Journal, "Organics make up only about 2.5% of the nation's food market, but demand is rising so quickly that many of the country's estimated 10,000 organic farms say they are having a hard time keeping up." you should "invest, then investigate". This is exactly what savvy investors are doing at a gradual pace.
Speculators are going even deeper and looking at the companies to short or put, or the companies they will bet on to lose out, unless of course they see the light. These companies as you already might have guessed are the (fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides) producers. The following list is a general list of the top manufacturers of these products: Syngenta (SYT), Bayer (BAY), Dupont (DD), Dow AgroSciences (DOW), BASF (BF), and Agrium (AGU). If everything were to be "done according to Hoyle" none of the pollutant divisions of these companies or the companies would exist by tomorrow, but these companies serve as a ligament of the spine erecting the U.S. economy, and regulators wouldn't see it a good thing to prosecute these behemoths especially in these unstable economic times where financial analysts land themselves in the Cooko's Nest. The government might start offering sanctions to the organic farmers because the operating costs for farmers and companies are as much as 50% more, with added costs stemming from transporting, natural fertilizers, and infected crops.
In 2001 the University Of Rochchester School Of Medicine put out a shocking study which resulted in the discovery "of the effects of a mixture of two very common agrichemicals, the herbicide Paraquat and the fungicide Maneb. Each is used by farmers on millions of acres in the United States alone: Maneb is applied widely on such crops as potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce and corn, and paraquat is used on corn, soybeans, cotton, fruit, and a variety of other products. In the experiment, mice exposed to either one had little or no brain damage, but mice exposed to both share a significant trait with people in the very early stages of the disease: Though they appear healthy, key brain cells known as dopamine neurons are dying. The mice exposed to the mixture carried nearly all of the molecular hallmarks of Parkinson's disease as seen in humans." With studies like these coming out weekly it doesn't surprise me to learn that the population is rethinking their eating habits. Documentaries like Fast Food America lift eyebrows too. The Companies which lurked in the dark while consumers were at McDonalds (MCD) [Hasn't adopted organics with open arms but will if it wants to survive] are now beaming with joy. Organic companies include: Dean Foods (DF), Whole Foods Market (WFMI) [Has 5 stores in the tri-state area serving mostly upper class neighborhoods], Wal-Mart (WMT) [Wal-Mart in February began stuffing the shelves of 10% of its stores with organic products to serve the higher income customers], Hain Celestial Group (HAIN)[large market cap], Wild Oats (OATS) [Beware of the super high multiple. This too has a large market cap]. All have seen an upward trajectory in price.
Organic foods are green but require a lot of it too. A store I shop at called Forces of Nature, which has just boomed lately, must have its own bank by now (incidentally its right next door to a Citibank). With increasing demand and volume, and with more R&D (for production and transportation methods mainly), the resultant lower costs will trickle down to the consumer. In the meantime you could always wait for a Wal-Mart to open up in your area.
I tried editing the format, but it didn't work out :bugeye: